Damaged
by Marx810
Summary: Set 8 years after the events of Kick Ass 2, Mindy finds herself reunited with Dave. After such a long time, they've grown quite different from who they once were in a variety of ways. How will this change their relationship? Rated M for language and sexual content.
1. The Creep

_(A/N: Okay, so just some background for this story, like the summary says, this is based 8 years after the end of the Kick Ass 2 comic, and Dave and Mindy have not seen each other since she was arrested. I…think that's all you need to know. Feel free to review, negative or positive, I'll usually respond.)_

Her name is Hit Girl. And at the moment, she is not very happy. In fact it would be safe to say angry, pissed, annoyed, whatever word you want to tag onto it. This is quite unfortunate for the would-be muggers she was currently stopping. While Hit Girl did always have a reputation for having a bit of…zeal, when taking down her opponents, as she was repeatedly slamming one of their heads into the wall, it could be said that she was being a bit more vicious than usual. There was a very good reason for this, however. Hit Girl was being followed. At first, she thought it was just paranoia, but she soon realized whoever was tracking her, was just that good. She'd yet to even get a good look of them.

It was just becoming frustrating now. Whoever it was, they were watching right now. No amount of running seemed to lose them. So far, the only time they seemed to let up was when Hit Girl went after them, and then they just…vanished. Because she couldn't completely trust the fact that they weren't following her, she'd had to stay at her secondary safehouse all week. Sure, the little fireproof room she was forced to sleep in was safer in case someone decided to just bomb the place instead of fighting her personally, but it wasn't exactly designed for comfort. Put these things together and you have a very cranky Hit Girl. As the last mugger fell, Hit Girl looked up. This was going to be the last night. The last fucking night she was going to deal with this shit. Launching herself up the fire escape, Hit Girl ran full force towards her stalker.

Her motions were very sudden and she was hoping that would work in her favor. So far that seemed to be working. For the first time, she actually got a glimpse of him. Yes, it was definitely a guy, and a pretty big one at that. Not that Hit Girl shied away from a fight with a larger opponent, but she had to admit to being impressed that someone that muscle bound could move that swiftly. He wasn't going to be moving swiftly enough, not this time. Hit Girl's cape continued flapping violently behind her as she dashed over the rooftops, barely slowing down before picking the pace back up. She'd been doing pretty well the past few years of not killing anyone, but whoever this guy was might have to be one of those few exceptions unless there was a very good reason for tracking her like that.

Sure, Hit Girl had theories. First and foremost, she knew it wasn't a cop. Sure, she was technically a fugitive, and the police were, in fact, after her, but as there was no proof that she'd killed anyone since she'd escaped, she knew she wasn't high on their priorities. It could have been a 'super villain' but it wasn't the usual super villain M.O. Usually the bad guys go out of their way for Hit Girl to notice them and get their asses kicked. This guy was playing mind games, or possibly trying to scout her. Because of that possibility, Hit Girl had even limited her usual offense just so she could take him by surprise. If she had to hazard a guess, she'd assume that he was a bounty hunter. While Hit Girl might have been currently low on the police's priorities, she could imagine she had quite the price on her head, if for no other reason than for how difficult it would be to bring her in. Hell, if it wasn't for being so hurt, and her respect for police, Hit Girl never would have been arrested in the first place.

She was getting closer now. Whoever that guy was, he just didn't have the room ahead of him to 'vanish' as he'd been doing. He was staying in Hit Girl's sights, and the gap between them was getting smaller and smaller. Hit Girl just about had him when… "Son of a FUCK!" She swore, as her head quickly turned behind her. He just stopped! She jumped over a gap that he jumped down and overshot him by practically half a rooftop. Now she had to turn back and catch up. Fuck, he was fast!

However once she turned around, much to her surprise, he was waiting for her on the other rooftop she'd just jumped over. A mere couple of feet between the two roofs were now separating them. Taking a deep breath to calm herself down, Hit Girl walked up to the edge, finally getting a good look at him. He wasn't all that tall, though not exactly short either, somewhere between 5"8'-5"10', and was covered head to toe in black. There were loads of belts and buckles surrounding him, which put Hit Girl slightly on edge, as someone with a utility belt herself, she knew how dangerous those could be when you just have one, especially if you know how to use it right. She couldn't make out any part of his face because it was covered in what looked like a cross between a fencing mask and a motorcycle helmet. The only thing that could possibly make him stand out was, in fact, his bulkiness. Up close…or at least a building gap apart, she still marveled that he could move so fast with all those muscles. Sure, the outfit looked rather armored so it could have been padding to make him look bigger, but she didn't think so.

Just as Hit Girl was sizing up her adversary, he appeared to be doing the same, though with the nature of the helmet, she had no clue where he was actually looking, it just appeared to be opaque, black glass. Her irritation seemed to get the better of her as Hit Girl made the first move, verbally speaking. "What the fuck do you want from me?! Note, I'm kicking your ass regardless. Your answer just lets me know if you'll be able to walk afterwards." The man, who Hit Girl now mentally called 'The Creep', said nothing, and merely cocked his head to the side. Whether he couldn't understand English or this was a taunt didn't matter. She'd tried to give him a chance and he blew it. Time to start cracking skulls. Hit Girl jumped with ease over the gap between the two rooftops and launched a full on assault on the Creep.

As it turned out, the Creep was just as irritating when fighting as he was when he was just stalking. His swift movements weren't just limited to hunting, running, and hiding apparently. His defensive skill was excellent. Hit Girl kept trying and trying to land a hit on him, but he just kept dodging, and when she tagged him every couple of attempts, it seemed to do very little damage. The only benefit was that she could tell from when she did hit him that his outfit was, in fact, armored. That information at least gave her something to work with. Hit Girl had grown to lean more towards hand to hand combat than from weapons as she got older because, one, she now had the strength to back it up, and two, it invited people to underestimate her. The Creep seemed to be underestimating her, as he was purely on the defensive, with not even an attempt to actually try to attack her. True, she wasn't leaving much room for an opening, but she still knew when someone was actually trying or not. He also didn't appear to be using any weapons, but Hit Girl knew with all those belts, he must have had something.

Hit Girl forced herself to throttle back, slightly. Not on her attempts to cripple the Creep, but in her offense in general. There was a good chance that the reason he wasn't fighting back was because he was still trying to see what she could do. And Hit Girl was not going to give him that information. Finally, the Creep made a move to attack, and then…

Hit Girl jumped back with a pause. Did he just-…? He did! That son of a cunt just patted her on the head, like a fucking dog! As soon as she processed it, Hit Girl's vision practically went red with hate. That move proved that he wasn't trying to figure her out or something. He was _playing _with her! Hit Girl tried not to kill people anymore, she really, really tried, for Marcus if no one else. However, in some cases, she just had to kill the bastards, in which case she'd hide the bodies so that there was never any evidence. It looked like the Creep, whoever he is, just volunteered to find out where she puts all the bodies first hand. As she pulled her swords out of their sheaths, hidden by her cape, Hit Girl was ready for blood. "Your funeral, motherfucker!" She growled, launching a new attack.

The Creep's defense seemed to be a lot more hectic now that there was more at stake than mere unconsciousness. And Hit Girl grinned wider, knowing that she'd finally gotten at least some semblance of fear from her opponent. She usually didn't have to work so damn hard for that reaction. A couple of slices and Hit Girl had gotten a few of the Creep's belts off, and found out that her blades could do some damage to his armor. She just had to be methodical and precise about her strikes.

"Mindy, wait!" And so the Creep finally talked. His voice sounded off. Like it was digitally lowered a couple of octaves.

Mindy didn't even blink. It wasn't like it was news that Hit Girl was actually Mindy Macready. Her identity was a matter of police record…so basically anyone who had access to the internet or access to anyone who had the internet knew it. The Creep was far from the first person to try using her name to slow her down. However, just for that, Hit Girl decided she was going to try to cut off one of his hands…just to show him some manners.

"Mindy, it's Dave!" The Creep exclaimed, barely dodging the sword.

Of course, in Dave's case, his identity was blown before Mindy's even was. And since Dave's was actually blown online, it was national news. You didn't even need the internet to know who he was, though that was the last straw. Initially, Hit Girl was going to kill this fucker quickly, just because he seemed a bit too dangerous to kill slowly. But now…using Dave's name like that…he was going to die slowly and painfully, maybe with no arms and legs. Now, she was catching him more often. Another slice or two and her swords were going to start getting through to the meat.

"Mindy! It's me!" The Creep backflipped a few times to get some distance between him and Hit Girl, and began clicking snaps around his helmet, literally falling over as he dodged another swipe, while taking off his helmet.

Hit Girl paused, just from the confusion of the gesture and looked into the Creep's face. He had a tanned complexion, a broad face, dark brown eyes, and short, spiky black hair. In short, he was definitely not Dave. Though with the helmet off, her sword now had access to his face. "Fuck you!" Hit Girl growled as she dashed forward with her blades, ready to stab him in the face…non fatally, of course, there was time for the fatal part later.

"Jesus Christ! For fuck's sake, Mindy! Would you stop trying to stab me for 5 seconds and fucking listen?!" Mindy's swords stopped in midair, her eyes bulging. There was something about the pathetic way he was groveling that was familiar. The voice was definitely deeper but…it still took her back, and it had been 8 years since she'd last seen him.

This time it was Hit Girl who cocked her head to the side. "…Dave?"

Dave breathed a sigh of relief, resting his head down. "I knew it…I just knew patting your head like that was taking things a step too far. I knew it, and I did it anyway, 'cuz I'm an idiot..."

There were loads of things going through Hit Girl's mind as she looked over one of her best friends, if not her best _friend_, from what happened the last time they saw each other to the fact that she very nearly, almost killed him. With all these things in her mind, ironically the thing that actually came out of her mouth as she looked him over was, "…what the fuck? What did you do, eat steroids for breakfast?"

_(A/N: And there's the first chapter, and I must say…Mindy and Dave are being dicks. And I don't mean the characters, I mean the idea of the story in my head. Initially this was just going to be a quick, one chapter, one shot of Dave/Mindy smut, with them being adults, of course. However I wanted to do something different with it(as you can see from Dave's description, alone), which is why I based this one entirely on the comic universe, as opposed to the movie. As you can see, just introducing Mindy to Dave took a chapter, in itself. So it had already grown to two chapters, but nooo Mindy and Dave want to be all needy and the chapters keep growing in my head as the '8 years later' world defines itself more and more. Already it's probably going to be about 4-5 chapters, which I know, isn't that long, but it kinda is when you remember it was just supposed to be a one chapter wham bam, thank you ma'am kind of thing. Not to say I'm not thoroughly enjoying toying around with how 8 years would have changed both characters, both physically and mentally, as well as both of them having their superhero ID's outted, I just always find it funny when a simple idea just…quadruples in size like that.)_


	2. Reintroductions

_(A/N: So…yeah…this chapter took longer than I expected. Lol I feel the need to remind you that this story was initially going to be a very simple, one chapter story. Anyway, this was pretty fun/complicated to do, simply because of how conversation heavy it is and the amount of information I'm trying to cram into it and keep the conversation as fluid as possible. Not sure how well I succeeded but eh, I got most of what I wanted to do into it. Though due to me not being able to get all the info into this chapter so far the chapter count of this story's up to 5.)_

Dave flashed Hit Girl a smirk. "Actually, they're all natural believe it or not." As much as he tried to keep it to a smirk, his smile just kept getting bigger and bigger on its own accord.

Hit Girl found that she was just as ecstatic, though she was able to hide it a little better, especially when a thought crossed her mind. As Dave tried to sit up, Mindy's foot immediately connected to his chest driving him back down. When he looked up, she was all business again. "Why were you following me?!" She demanded.

Dave appeared surprised by the sudden attack but chuckled a little to himself when he realized she wasn't talking about him following her today, it was all the other times. "Yeah…about that…I…wasn't sure if you were actually …you or not."

Hit Girl looked at Dave with more than a hint of skepticism. "Who the Hell else would I be?"

Dave tried to get up again, making sure Mindy was going to let him before making a serious attempt. "You don't see me in a bright ass, green wetsuit, now do you?"

Hit Girl crossed her arms and muttered, "You wouldn't fit in it anymore, anyway."

Dave rolled his eyes. "It doesn't exist anymore, anyway. I burned that damn thing after H-Day."

"Oh?" Hit Girl asked, skeptically. "I'm pretty sure there've been a couple of Kick Ass sightings since then."

"Not me." Dave sighed. "If other people want to go out in that deathtrap of a costume, nothing I can do about it. That's one of the reasons I didn't think that you were you. I was sure Hit Girl would be the last costume I would see you wearing."

This seemed to trigger an unexpected reaction in Hit Girl, as she stepped forward with a glare similar to the one Dave saw when he patted her on the head. "I **am** Hit Girl." She growled. "Hit Girl is who I've **always** been, and it's who I'm **going** to stay, identity be damned."

Dave quickly put both of his hands up. "Fair enough, fair enough." As Dave looked over her, he couldn't argue that, short of her height, Hit Girl was more or less the same. Purple tights, which were definitely armored underneath if you looked closely, check. White gloves, check. Black boots, check. Purple wig, check. Black and red cape held together with a padlock, check. The only thing that looked noticeably different was her mask. Instead of the tie around mask she wore when she was younger, Hit Girl was currently sporting a mask that covered the whole of the top half of her head. And Dave would bet his vow never to wear his old green costume again, that her mask was bulletproof.

Considering how…defensive Mindy seemed to be about the topic of her identity, he thought it would be wise to change it. "As you can see, I…went through a lot of effort to reinvent myself. I just…didn't want to blow that on some fangirl who reminded me of you and…you weren't exactly fighting like yourself. Just when I was pretty sure it was you, you'd start fighting like…like…someone who was…mimicking you… It was kind of confusing." As Dave spoke, he picked up his helmet and started fastening it back on.

Hit Girl's face betrayed her annoyance that the reason the whole situation was stretched on so long was because of her own tactics. "I thought you were trying to scout what I could do or something…" She admitted, shrugging. "Anyway, you seem kind of…against your old costume. Does that mean that _this_-" Mindy motioned to Dave's new look. "-isn't just Kick Ass 2.0 or something?"

Due to the voice changer, the noise Dave made was a little tricky to make out, before he replied, "Hell…no… For all intents and purposes, Kick Ass is dead." Dave released a sigh. "At least in the sense of me wearing the costume…"

Hit Girl narrowed her eyes. There was something about knowing that Dave was under there that made her really not like that costume, and especially not the altered voice. Something about that voice saying 'Kick Ass is dead' just rubbed her the wrong way. "So who are you then?"

"Nobody."

One of Hit Girl's eyebrow's raised. "Your name is Nobody?"

Dave shook his head. "No, I don't have a name. Recognition's what fucked Kick Ass. I'm not making that mistake again."

Hit Girl's teeth gritted together. She really…really did not like that voice. It was so easy to forget that it was Dave, especially when he talked about Kick Ass like that. However, when she really thought about it, Dave's new costume was geared for one thing above all else. From the fact that no skin whatsoever could be seen, to the fact not only could you not make out his face, you couldn't even make out the shape of his head. Maybe a good name for him would be Anonymity, it was obviously what he was going for, though the fact that she'd mentally already named him the Creep, made his lack of a name slightly funny. "So…what does everyone else call you?"

Dave shrugged again. "I try not to let anyone see me…but…there are a few. The Ghost, the Vigilante, the Sandman, the 'Avenging Shadow'…" Dave made air quotes for that last name and chuckled a little. "And my personal favorite, What-the-fuck-was-that."

While Hit Girl did laugh, mentally she'd reached the conclusion that if she didn't get him to take off that damn helmet so she didn't have to hear that fucking fake voice she was going to smash it herself. But she had to remind herself that though the 11 year old in her was ecstatic to have her friend back, the adult knew that a person can change in 1 year and it had been 8. She simply couldn't afford to trust him like she wanted to. "Dave…I have to ask…did Marcus send you?"

Marcus had been looking for Mindy since she escaped. He was doing it almost relentlessly, using any and all resources he'd made when he was still a cop. Unfortunately for him, Mindy's father drilled repeatedly into her how to stay off the radar. Mindy felt that she'd already cost Marcus his job, which he lost as soon as the police found out that he knew Mindy was Hit Girl and was in fact, housing a pint sized murderer, and had cost him his wife, for basically the same reason. From what Mindy had heard, her mother never forgave him for not telling her about Mindy's…extracurricular activities, and even moreso for not stopping her. Mindy had just thought it best to…let him move on and live his life without her. He'd be fine as soon as he accepted that she was gone and moved on. Hell, if he put as much effort in fixing things with her mom as he did trying to find her, they'd probably be back together. However, if Marcus had actually gone far enough to use Dave to find her, she might actually have to do something about that.

"I haven't seen Marcus since he set me up with my new identity." Dave answered.

This immediately got a reaction, as Hit Girl quickly turned to him. "Marcus set you up with your new identity?"

"In a sense." Dave answered. "He pointed me to people who could get me the papers. He made a point of not wanting to know which one I chose. I think the only reason he helped me that much was because of you. I got a feeling he blamed me for…well…everything…"

Mindy's eyes narrowed once more for a completely different reason. Even with the altered voice, she could tell that Marcus was obviously not the only one who blamed him. "Okay, then. Try to keep up." And with no more warning than that, Hit Girl dashed off the rooftop and began moving towards a location only she knew of. Once again, she felt herself drifting off into the past. And she knew every time she did, because she kept slowing down for Dave to catch up, even though the current 'Dave' didn't need it. Mentally, she knew she shouldn't be taking him to her main headquarters, but there was a part of her that just wanted to show it off. And if she were being completely honest, there was a part of her that was just lonely.

Once they made it past the closed subway station things started to get more entertaining. While Hit Girl was definitely taller than she had been the last time Dave had seen her, she was still pretty short, and as such could get into areas that the, much bigger, Dave had much harder time getting through. Each time it happened, she never helped, but just waited with a smug look as he squeezed his way through the openings.

"Oh, fuck you…" Dave muttered after he had a particularly hard time getting through a spot. Just the effort alone, it took to get wherever they were going was impressive.

"We're almost there." Hit Girl replied, with a laugh. Once they got around the next corner, they reached a large door with a key pad next to it. Hit Girl turned back and gave Dave a look. With a chuckle, he threw his hands up in defeat and turned around so that she could put it in the code for the door. He only turned around once he heard the sound of it opening.

"What the fuuuuck?" Dave said, being brought back to the first time he saw Mindy and her father's 'headquarters', which was basically a glorified armory. The main different is, this place was much bigger.

Hit Girl was grinning ear to ear at Dave's reaction, which was exactly what she was going for. "I know, right? It's a bomb shelter. Stupidly rich people and paranoia don't go very well together." Mindy shrugged. "Works awesomely for me, though. This place is fucking badass."

"Hm…" Dave started as he unclipped his helmet, oblivious to Hit Girl's immense sigh of relief. "…um…for you to use a place like this…for your base…anyone who knew about it would have to be dead. Do I…even want to know how you found it?"

Hit Girl flashed Dave her 'I just chopped a guy's head in 3 pieces before it hit the ground, isn't that awesome?' smirk that pretty much answered that question, but she chose to do it verbally as well. "…nah, probably not. I can tell you anyway though." There. Right there. If there was any doubt that the broad shouldered, tanned, brown eyed(which she could now see were colored contacts), black haired guy was Dave it was right there in his expression. It was the look he'd give her when she did something a little too dark and he was too much of a pussy to admit it creeped him out.

"You have any other clothes on you?" Hit Girl asked, putting away the weapons she had on the multiple racks along the wall.

"Uh, no actually…If I would have known we were going this far out, I probably would have stopped by my hotel. I'm good, though." Dave answered, sitting on the couch as Hit Girl motioned towards it.

"Cool." Hit Girl replied, walking into another room, her arm coming out to hang her wig on the wall, before vanishing again. "So, who are you?"

Dave raised an eyebrow. "Who am I?" He could hear Mindy undressing in the other room and despite his best efforts, he couldn't help but to imagine her changing her clothes as a cartoon silhouette. He kept trying to shake his head to get that particular fantasy out of there.

"As in your name, dumbass."

"Ah," Dave chuckled. "I'm Dave."

"…I know that, bitch. What's your new name? Stop being such a dickhead."

Even though Mindy couldn't see it, Dave was grinning like an idiot. "It's Dave."

"…are you fucking with me? You did not go through all of that trouble to 'reinvent' yourself just to call yourself the same fucking name. You can't be that dumb."

Dave tried to hold in his laughter. "I never said I had the same name. I'm David Parker. I figured…I'm losing enough of myself, the very least I can do is keep my fucking first name. I chose Parker because-"

"I know why you chose Parker, numnuts." Mindy said, giggling a little. "Surprised you didn't go with David Wayne or something. Or David Kent, or David Banner…"

"I did consider those…" Dave pondered. "But they sounded made up, though I ended up flipping a coin between Banner and Parker."

"Heh, I went with Jessica, myself." Mindy admitted, before pinching the bridge of her nose, in frustration, though Dave couldn't see that part, of course. Inwardly, she was hitting herself in the head for just giving away _her_ new identity so casually. That was supposed to be a test to see if Dave trusted her, not proof that she trusted him. She needed to stop slipping into her old self.

"Ha, Jessica… I can see that…yeah." It then hit Dave that he'd been in this situation before. Sitting down while Mindy changed in another room, and she was always out in less than a minute. It was starting to make him kind of antsy, especially since he couldn't hear her getting dressed anymore. "What's taking you so long?"

"Shut the fuck up, you need to get the full effect. So what does David Banner do?"

Dave smirked, knowing the most likely reaction to the answer of that question. "I'm a personal trainer."

There was a pause before Mindy's laughter echoed through the room. "A personal trainer? Dude, seriously?"

"I know, I know. But it pays really fucking well, and I'm in the gym all the time anyway, so it kind of worked out, you know?" Dave shrugged.

"Okay, I'm not going to lie to you. That 'body by Ah-nold' look you have going on is a bit weird. It's just…not you…"

"Heh, that's the whole point." Dave replied, chuckling. "As soon as I got my new identity, I kinda…dropped off the grid entirely for a good year. During that time, I literally made a list of everything that made me Dave and everything that made me Kick Ass, and did everything in my power to be the complete opposite. I was a scrawny motherfucker so I needed to get either muscular or fat. I went with muscular."

"So you're the Anti-Dave then? Guess that means you're getting laid all the time, huh?"

"…fuck you, Mindy…"

"Actually…" Mindy finally stepped out of the room. "…I think you mean, 'fuck you, Jessica'."

Dave's eyes practically bulged out of his skull, and he found himself infinitely glad that he hadn't been drinking or something because he would have totally done a spit take. 'Jessica' was wearing knee high heeled leather boots, a very short skirt, and a halter top that showed off her midsection and…her…surprisingly large-

"There's…no way those are real…" Dave confusedly muttered. Oh! Right, she also had…um…short, brown hair that hung in a way that covered her face a bit.

Mindy glared down at Dave, putting her hand on her hip. "Are you saying…that you think I got a boob job?"

Dave shook his head, still trying to wrap his head around things. "No, I-…those can't be real though, that's just…biologically impossible. You've been hardcore training since you were like…4, it'd be like…like…a…big tittied…gymnast or a ballet dancer or something, you just…don't…"

"So you're saying that you think I got fucking fake tits." Mindy repeated, dryly.

Dave had a look on his face like his brain had just broken. "…you…must have…"

Mindy sucked her teeth and stomped up to Dave, who instinctively backed up. "Okay, bitch. You think they're fake, prove it. Touch 'em."

Once more Dave's eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head as Mindy stuck out her chest at him. "Okay, okay, you win! They're real!"

"Touch 'em you fucking pussy! You think they're fucking fake then prove it! Fucking grab them and tell me they're fake!" Despite Mindy's angry words, she couldn't help but love the fact that she was still able to bully Dave when the size difference between them was even bigger than it was before. "Do it!"

"Fine!" Dave grabbed, without really thinking, just to placate Mindy and then slightly blanked when he realized what he was doing, and then the realization hit him. "…you bitch! These things are faker than a pop star's hair color."

Mindy damn near cackled like a witch at Dave's reaction. "Yeah, I know. They're pretty high quality though, aren't they? Damn well better be, I paid enough for them. They're expensive enough when they're legal."

Dave had to remind himself to 'unhand' her as he was reminded of the absurdity of the situation. "Mindy…why the fuck did you get those?"

One side of Mindy's lips curled up into a sneer. "Why the fuck did you put on all those pounds of muscle? As you said, I wasn't exactly gifted naturally and short of getting work done on my face, it's a great diversionary tactic. Hell, I was following your eyes. Since I've walked out, you've yet to really look me in the face."

Dave rolled his eyes. "Yes, I have." His eyes were immediately covered by Mindy's hand.

"Oh yeah? What color is my lipstick?"

"…red?" Dave guessed as Mindy moved her hands. "…I meant…light pink…hey, since when do you wear makeup?" It wasn't just lipstick, Mindy was wearing, it was eye shadow, eye liner, lip liner, and Dave was pretty sure she was wearing some shade of blush. The eye makeup especially seemed to create the illusion that her eyes were more almond shaped than they actually were. At least he could see what had been taking her so long to get ready.

"And my point is proven." Mindy said, triumphantly flopping on the couch and crossing her legs. "When I go out, people look at the cleavage and the outfit and either don't look at my face at all, barely look me in the face, or look down on me because they think I'm a slut…or have low self esteem or whatever. Point is, no one ever goes, 'Don't I know you from somewhere? Oh yeah, you're that psycho superhero chick who broke out of the nuthouse.' You see _this_ walking down the street," Mindy pointed down to herself. "The last thing you think is 'Hit Girl'. All I have to deal with are horny jerks, and I think we both know I can deal with them just fine."

Dave merely smiled warmly at his former partner. "You're preaching to the choir, there. You said it, yourself. I'm the last person to talk about someone changing themselves, especially with our situation, identity-wise. Judgment free zone, here."

Mindy smirked. "Sure you're not just worried I'm going to kick your ass?"

"Hm…" Dave shrugged. "Tom-ay-to, Tom-ah-to…" He found himself getting oddly contemplative. "Wait…wait wait wait. How did I not see those when you were in costume?"

Mindy threw back her head in laughter at the question and quickly got up and ran into the room she got changed in, bringing back her costume. "Did you notice how armored the chest is?"

"Well yeah, but-" Dave stopped as he picked up the costume, himself and looked over how it was shaped. "It…hides them?"

"Yup!" Mindy replied, grinning. "One of the reasons I couldn't go _too_ big, there's a point where no amount of armor can make me still look flat, no matter how it's shaped. Not to mention there's a thin line between distracting and just plain impractical. So…what do you think Jessica does?"

"Oh…um…Let's see…I think…" Dave answered. "…that Jessica's…a…stripper."

This time it was Mindy's eyes that bugged out. "You think I'm a-…fuck you, Dave!"

Dave was barely able to maintain his composure and keep from laughing at Mindy's reaction. "Hey, I was simply going on your current look and the last place I'd expect to find you."

"I'm not a fucking stripper! I'm an exotic dancer." Mindy was able to keep from laughing at Dave's reaction for approximately 2/3 of a second. "Oh God, that was priceless." She giggled. "Guess again, fuck face."

Dave looked at Mindy intently, trying to make out what her cocky expression was trying to tell him. His smile gave off a bemused feeling about it as he finally answered, "I think what Jessica does…is…be Hit Girl."

Mindy was grinning like the Cheshire Cat. "You bet your ass, she's Hit Girl." She wasn't going to lie, she hadn't thought he'd guess that right. He still knew her better than she thought. And there was something about that, that just made Mindy happier.

Mindy's smile turned out to be somewhat contagious. "So you've pretty much turned being Hit Girl into a job?" Dave asked, casually.

"Well, if I had the choice I'd probably be one of those heroes whose a cop for their day job and a superhero afterwards but that's not really in the cards for me now, is it?"

Dave pictured Mindy as a cop in his head and the image caused him to laugh a little. "I don't know about that, I think you could totally be a cop."

"I can't be a cop, you Jackass, I'm a fucking fugitive. The moment they so much as print me, I'm going to be right back in with the crazies."

The change in Dave's expression wasn't subtle in the slightest. "Mindy? How…did you get out, exactly?"

Mindy paused, before letting out a sigh. It wasn't exactly the biggest surprise that this subject came up and she figured she'd have to tell it to someone eventually. However it was still a bit of a sore spot. While Mindy loved Marcus for getting her such a good lawyer, it always pissed her off that her father was cast as the bad guy and Mindy the innocent victim, who was brainwashed. It wasn't like Mindy wasn't going to get an insanity plea, she'd accepted that. It was just that she hated the idea that her father was being portrayed as a psycho kidnapper who read one too many comics. There was no reason to drop all of that frustration on Dave though. "It wasn't as hard as you'd think. The main thing was that I was completely compliant with anything they wanted. I never fought the guards or anything and I went to all the therapy sessions, and opened up and all that shit. Not to say they didn't still put me in a strait jacket."

"They did?" Dave asked. "Even though you were going along with everything?"

"They thought it was all bullshit." Mindy shrugged. "That I was lying to the therapist and as soon as I had a legitimate way to escape, I'd kick all their asses and be gone."

"So, what happened?"

"As soon as I had a legitimate way to escape, I kicked all their asses and was gone." Mindy answered, smiling gleefully. "They were moving me to another facility and I took advantage. And after that, thanks to H-Day, the police are after me, but they're not really after me, you know?" H-Day, of course, referring to the big brawl in Times Square that the police saw as one big, costumed gang fight. As bad as things turned out, what got interesting was the public perception of the whole thing afterwards. To them it was obvious that the heroes did most of the work and the police just cleaned up the mess. Hit Girl's arrest especially, hit people at home. There was just something about a cop standing in the middle of the road and forcing an 11 year old girl to crash in an attempt not to hit him and willingly letting herself get arrested that made it hard to see her for the assassin that the police tried to portray her as.

Put these things together and from the police's perspective, it was a PR nightmare, not to mention one Hell of a slippery slope. The last thing they wanted was people calling costumed vigilantes instead of 911. So despite the fact that there was a law against costumed vigilantes, the police weren't enforcing it as much as they probably should have. After Mindy's escape, things were a bit…tricky. They were trying so hard not to arrest any 'heroes' and until it could be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that Hit Girl killed someone, it was very much an 'on thin ice' situation, which Mindy was currently milking for all it was worth.

"…I'm so sorry…" Dave muttered.

"Geeze Dave, stop being such a fucking drama queen. I'm obviously fine."

"…you know what I mean, Mindy. If I hadn't lost it and knocked Chris off that fucking roof-"

"Stop." Mindy moved like a blur and covered Dave's mouth with her hand. Once more, it was easy to see her 'Dave' under the façade that he'd made for himself in all the guilt that she could see on his face. "I made the decision to take that 'bullet'. One more attempted murder to my wrap sheet isn't exactly a big deal. I did it then, and I'd do it again. I was trained to be Hit Girl. I love it, don't get me wrong, but it's just…who I am. You chose to be Kick Ass because-"

"Because I was bored, Mindy." Dave interrupted with a sigh. "I was fucking bored and I had nothing better to do so I put on a wetsuit, duct taped a pipe and tried to fight crime. Even after I got stabbed and hit with a motherfucking car, which put me in traction, I still didn't stop. I put that shit right back on and got tortured by the fucking mob and got your dad killed because I was too fucking naïve not to see Chris for the backstabbing bastard he was. Even then…even fucking then…I didn't stop! I just kept being a fucking dumbass and pulled you back into the shit even though you were trying to be normal."

"Dave…" Mindy started, unable to remain unaffected by the onslaught of emotion that was practically radiating off of him.

"And because of my fucking influence a bunch of other people thought it was a good idea to put on costumes as well and don't even get me started on all the shit it made Chris do to get back at me… And you know what's fucked up? Even after H-Day…after everyone I cared about was either hurt, dead, fucking gang raped, or arrested, you'd think that would be enough. But no, even when I went to fucking college, I took elective classes that I paid way more attention to than the teachers realized because I knew…I…**knew**...that I was going to go back into a fucking costume eventually because I'm a fucking idiot! That's what I am! Everyone keeps seeing me as someone to look up and because of me, you lost not only your dad, but 5 years of your life in a fucking-"

"Shush…" Mindy silenced him again, closing her eyes as she pressed her forehead against his. "If I'm not angry about it then you can't be either." She then playfully punched him in the arm. "Those are the rules. We all have fucking issues, but the fact is, I really, really missed you and I don't want to fuck this up by getting all our shit on the table right now. Let's just say you're my bitch for life, and leave it at that for right now."

Dave hadn't even cracked a smile. "…you know I would have visited you if I could, but-"

"Bitch, I will fucking stab you. I mean it." Mindy threatened. Though there was something about Mindy's threat, along with her current…state of dress that made it a bit funnier than she intended, and what started off as a snicker from Dave ended up with the two of them practically bent over in laughter. It turned out to be surprisingly therapeutic. "You know…its kind of funny. We changed ourselves so much, we could have passed each other on the street and not realized who we were."

"Heh…" Dave began to regain his composure. "That's highly doubtful. I don't live in New York anymore."

As much as Mindy was trying to keep the conversation light, she had to admit that statement took the smile right off her face. "What? You don't? …where do you live, then?"

"California…" Dave answered, and almost immediately felt the need to explain himself further. "You have to understand, it felt like…like I'd lost everything. I just needed to get away. As far away as humanly fucking possible. I think I would have gone out of the country if I could have afforded it."

Something of a somber smile began to form on Mindy's face. "Judgment free zone here too, Dave. You don't have to explain yourself to me. I…totally understand. I probably would have done the same thing after I escaped but…I don't know…Hit Girl was all I really had left. I tried to be normal and actually use 'Jessica' for more than just getting groceries and everyday shit I just can't do in costume, but when it came down to it…it just wasn't me. No matter how much I wanted a normal life and all that, it just felt too…forced. Being Hit Girl's just…it's me. You did what you thought you needed to…so did I." Mindy mentally growled at herself for letting the conversation get all dark and angsty again. "So…what are these superhero classes you apparently took, huh? Like Criminal Psychology or some shit like that?"

Dave rolled his eyes at the term 'superhero classes'. "Oh, just little things that helped. Chemistry. Zoology. Mechanics. Anatomy…"

Mindy's eyes narrowed. "Okay, I get Anatomy, but how-?"

Before Mindy could finish her sentence, Dave lifted his arm and with a sharp motion with his hand, three small projectiles fired off into the far wall, clattering off as they rebounded.

"What the fuck?!" Mindy reared back in surprise.

"They're not exactly the best of darts but they can get through skin, and work from far away so they fit what I need them for, long as they're not covered in body armor or something." Dave pulled off his gloves to show the somewhat crude looking device around his hand that had multiple slots with the little darts inside of them. "They were a bitch to make, took me practically a year to get it right."

"What…are they?" Mindy asked, inspecting the wrist shooter more closely.

Dave began popping some of the pouches on his belts, showing different colored darts. "Tranqs. Paralysis. Fast acting poison. Slow acting poison."

"Why the fuck would you need slow acting poison?"

Dave smiled as he pointed to the red and white darts. "Antidote to slow acting poison."

You could almost see the light bulb go off in Mindy's head. "Oh…Oooooh! You conniving dick! I love it!"

"That's where the Chemistry and the Zoology come in. You'd be amazed the amount of toxins and shit there are in a public zoo if you know where to look, after hours."

Mindy suddenly laughed out loud. "All of this is just so you don't get beat up so much anymore, isn't it?"

"You were fucking trained to fight. I was the one getting my ass kicked all the time, just because I could take a beating. That shit got old real quick. At least this way I barely have to fight at all. I just…snipe people from rooftops usually. Though, as you saw I can hold my own in case I need to."

"Yeah, I hate to admit that-…" Another light bulb went off in Mindy's head, though this one wasn't as happy a light bulb as the previous. "You son of a bitch!" She roared, turning quickly to Dave. "You weren't surrendering when you feel down earlier…you were fucking _aiming_!"

Dave grinned in reply. "Well…if you ever found out it was me, you'd have felt horrible." Of course, if you looked at it technically speaking, this wasn't really an admission. There was a good reason for that. Mindy was giving Dave a little more credit than he deserved. She was implying that when he fell over, it was actually to get a better shot. The truth is that he fell over because Mindy's fucking terrifying when she gets that death glare in her eyes. Sure, he probably would have fired on her before she sliced him in two but that would have been instinct. However, Mindy…didn't need to know that.

_(A/N: So yeah, there were a lot of things in this story that were a bit up in the air, because of the line of plausibility. The biggest one was probably Mindy having implants. It's just…so out of character, but it makes sense in my head. Also, when I told my wife I was considering it, she had the most confused look on her face which pretty much cinched it for me, as well as Dave's damn near mental breakdown as he tried to comprehend her logic of it. _

_Basically, just as Dave said that he made a list of all his traits and tried to oppose them, I did the same with both characters for their new 'aliases'. For anyone who does have a big problem with it, you probably don't want to know the ideas that I turned down lol. The whole Mindy being a stripper joke was just one of them. Toyed with her being a bartender as well, though she's not 21 yet so that wouldn't work, and I just think that both of those kind of cross the plausibility line. I thought Dave's wrist darts might be pushing it as well, but eh, this is technically set a couple years in the future from now so I think its plausible. Feel free to let me know your opinions one way or another.)_


	3. The Weights

_(A/N: So…I noticed there were a couple of questions about those fake tits. Probably more that didn't ask me personally so I figured I'd just give a summary of the answer I gave anyone who did ask me. True, the fake boobs weren't actually necessary for this story, but I do have further plans for them, the logic Mindy used to get them, and the person who…well…put them in her. It'll make sense, I promise, it just won't happen in this story.)_

Mindy crossed her arms, still slightly annoyed at not seeing what Dave had been doing earlier. It was rather ingenious so she couldn't actually be mad at him for it. Hell, part of her was proud of him for thinking that far ahead. "Where did you learn to fight like that? You've obviously worked on your defense."

Dave smirked, in reply. "First rule of Fight Club."

"Oh kiss my ass, Dave!" Mindy retorted. "Stop trying to be all mysterious and shit and just answer the fucking question."

Dave raised an eyebrow. "Who trained your dad?"

There was immediately and very pregnant silence. "…second rule of Fight Club…"

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

Mindy made a face. "You know what? I wasn't going to ask this, but since you're being such a cocky bitch, um…why don't you have any facial hair? That's probably the most obvious way to change your appearance."

Dave's eyes narrowed, as he looked at his former partner, who was currently sporting her own cocky expression. "…it grew in patchy…"

"Did it even grow in patchy?" Mindy teased, getting up so she could pinch Dave's cheeks. "I think your face is as smooth as a baby."

Dave did his best to glare at Mindy's tone, as he was swatting away her hand, but it was such a ridiculous situation that he couldn't help but to laugh. "God, I missed you."

There was an immediate disconnect between Mindy's brain and her body. Her body was grinning like an idiot, while her mind was telling her to stop it, over and over. She might have even giggled. Why did him saying that have to make her so damn happy? To make things even worse, Dave was obviously trying not to react to her…well…reacting like a girl. A quick change of subject was needed. "Anyway…you live in California now, so…what brought you back here?"

"Well…" Dave started, with a smirk. "This is going to sound cheesy as fuck, but…I came to look for you."

Mindy's gave Dave a skeptical look. "Oh I'm so calling bullshit on that. You didn't cross the fucking country just to find me."

Dave sighed heavily, his smile remaining. "And…it's not the first year I've tried either. I've tried the past 2 years around this time as well."

"Around this time of…" Mindy found herself pondering out loud, before it sunk in. "Oh Dave, you can't be that sappy…"

"I wish I could deny it." Dave chuckled. "For all I knew, you were dead though. It just…seemed appropriate. Though the more I wasn't able to find you, the more it became more of a…yearly ritual than trying to actually find you."

Mindy's face fell. "Yeah…my dad would always take me out or do something really special for my birthday. When I was locked up, it was such a different…atmosphere, I guess, that it didn't really hit me, but once I was out I just ended up getting really…depressed. So I usually just took it off. I figured…New York would be fine for one fucking day, you know? This year I just kinda said…fuck it, stop being such a pussy and went out anyway…" Once again, Mindy tried not to let things get too dark and added, "Not to mention I was being stalked all week and I was looking forward to ramming something, preferably spiky, up my stalker's ass."

"Oddly enough…you aren't the first girl to accuse me of stalking her." Dave then thought about it. "The weird thing is…so far you've all been technically right…"

Mindy rolled her eyes. "Glad I'm just another in a long line, then. So…if you were really coming all the way over here for my birthday…" Mindy suddenly beamed. "…where's my gift?"

"What makes you think I have a gift?" Dave replied. "I thought you might be dead, remember?"

"Stop being such a fucknut and giving me my damn present!"

Dave chuckled as he reached behind him into one of the pouches and pulled out a folded piece of paper. "Fine, here."

Mindy eagerly took the gift and unfolded it. "Geeze, Dave. You didn't even wrap it for me…" Once again, she had to reprimand herself for getting so 'girly' as she read the contents on the paper. "It's a…copy of Chris's autopsy report?...Ha! That's awesome!"

Dave smirked as he saw Mindy's reaction. "Stole it from the coroner when they were out. I thought you'd like it. You know how he died?"

"From what I heard, some orderly pillowed him to death after H-Day. They think it was the mother of one of the kids he killed or something. So many of them wanted to kill the fucker and admitted it, that there was no way to know which one did it."

Dave's smirk faded. "Pillow, yes. Orderly, no."

"Then who-?" Mindy caught Dave's expression which cut her off, cold. "…Dave?..." Mindy's face was the definition of confusion. She'd seen his face when he thought he'd killed Chris, he was mortified. In fact, he was calling the fucking police to save him. Dave killing him just…didn't make any sense, but the admission was right there on his face. "…why…?"

"…He'd won, you know. The moment my dad got arrested for me, he'd won. I was going to hang it all up. I promised my dad and everything. It was over. But then Chris had to go and kill Dad anyway and rub salt in the wounds. It was fucking over! I wasn't just quitting , I was getting the fuck out of New York altogether. I was only staying for the funeral! Then Chris could have done whatever the fuck he wanted and I'd have stayed out of it. But that wasn't enough for him…he just couldn't accept the win and let me fucking be! You were locked up…I just…he'd gone after someone who was locked up before. I didn't want to take that chance…"

Mindy's jaw dropped as she realized exactly what Dave was saying. "You…killed Chris…for me?"

"Chris was a sick fuck…there was no way I could…take his word that he'd leave us alone if I didn't let him die. You gave me my life, the least I could do was return the favor and make sure he couldn't hurt you anymore."

"Oh Dave…" Mindy sighed, a sly grin appearing on her lips. "That might actually be the most awesome birthday gift I've ever gotten. In fact, I think I'm kind of turned on right now."

"Psh! Fuck you." Dave said, laughing. Mindy joined in, though they were laughing for two completely different reasons. Dave, because Mindy was still making jokes, and Mindy, because she wasn't actually joking that time. But eh, she was glad he was laughing. She really wasn't digging his morbid mood swings.

"I'm going to hang this up!" Mindy said, excitedly hopping up and going over to one of the racks on the wall and hanging up the report. She was fully aware that as she was stretching up to do so, her skirt was not exactly covering what it was supposed to be covering. "Dave…are you looking at my ass?" She asked, without looking back.

Dave snapped out of his pondering and looked up. "Well…I _wasn't_…"

Mindy looked back at Dave, sporting a coy grin, when something caught her eye on the hand that Dave had left ungloved since he showed her the wrist shooters. "Dave, did you get a tattoo?"

"Actually…" Dave began to unclip some of his belts. Once he'd undone enough of them, he slipped off his top. "…I might just have a little more than one…"

"Holy…" Mindy gasped as she saw two things immediately. The first was that he wasn't kidding about the effort he was putting in the gym, his muscle definition was insane. The second was that his arms were almost literally covered in tattoos. Mindy rushed forward to get a closer look at them. They appeared to be a series of intricate tribal designs. "Dude…seriously? I figured if you were going to get inked it would be a little more…meaningful or something."

Any amusement was immediately wiped away by the look on Dave's face. It wasn't the first time this night that his expression had been absolutely wracked with guilt, but there did seem to be something else to it. There was definitely something more to those tattoos than there appeared to be. Dave took Mindy's hand and made her finger trace one of the more prominent designs. Mindy found herself slightly distracted because…well…Dave's arms were pretty damn impressive, even without the tattoos, but then she caught on to exactly what Dave was doing. The 'tribals' weren't actually tribals at all, they were very warped letters. They were just so warped that you wouldn't be able to make it out unless you knew the 'font'. As Dave led Mindy's fingers across the letters, she finally made out what it spelled.

BIG DADDY.

Mindy found that she couldn't look away. Now that she could read it, she could see just why the designs seemed so intricate. There were more names than she could be bothered to count, in various sizes. The Silver Beetle, Colonel Stars, his dog, Sophia, even that dumbass who jumped off the building with metal wings he hadn't tested beforehand, his arm was covered in the names of dead superheroes. When she looked over to his right arm, most of the names she didn't even recognize. Then she saw 'Katie Deauxma' and possibly the names of those 4 kids that Chris killed, they looked familiar.

It was when Mindy looked up at the complete and total guilt on Dave's face that she was able to connect all of the dots. It was easy to get that the left arm was superheroes and the right arm was civilians. At first, she thought it was a memorial to everyone who died, but there were names like Katie's who wasn't actually dead…but she could easily see that from Dave's perspective, they might as well be. He'd put permanent reminders to himself of every life Kick Ass's influence had either ended or ruined. They weren't memorials…they were…weights… She could read it all on Dave's face. He looked…broken. She could tell then that Dave had been wearing a mask. A mask very similar to the one she usually wore. The mask that makes them appear to be all normal and witty and happy, like they weren't affected by seeing all their loved ones killed in front of or because of them.

When Dave had been talking about how he'd moved on and went to college and formed a better superhero identity for himself, Mindy had been envious. She'd thought that maybe because he'd come into being a hero on his own accord instead of being raised into it that maybe he'd had a chance to grow up normal. But the reality of the situation was that he was just as fucked in the head as she was, they were both just really good at hiding it.

Taking a deep breath, she looked over to the tattoo that had initially caught her attention. It looked like a spiky bracelet around his wrist. The name she read there, didn't surprise her in the least, it read 'JAMES LIZEWSKI'. Of course there was one name she hadn't seen yet. There was another name on the inside of his wrist and as she turned it over she saw the name she'd been expecting.

MINDY MCCREADY.

_(A/N: Yeah, I know this kind of went all over the place, emotionally speaking, and that was actually on purpose. I figured the two of them would be emotionally all over the place. Believe it or not, despite the emotional fucked upness going on right now, the next chapter will finally be the entire reason I initially wrote this story, and the smut will come…no pun intended. Um…yeah…I think I had more to say but I got nuthin right now, so yeah, let me know what you think.)_


	4. Escalation

_(A/N: So, I finally finished this chapter. For what its worth, there is a reason this took me so long. Hopefully you'll see the effort I put into it. I'm happy with how it turned out. If not…enjoy the smut! Oh! So I decided to stop fighting the current. Initially this was supposed to be something of an introduction and then I'd do another story, continuing from this one. But eh, this story just wants to continue after the 5__th__ chapter, and so it will. As usual, let me know what you think, positive or negative.)_

"Dave…" Mindy sighed, running her finger over her name. "I was a superhero before you were, remember? Fuck, I was probably a superhero before the thought even entered your head. You are not responsible for what I am, or anything that's happened to me, okay? You really need to-…Dave?" It had taken her awhile, but Mindy soon realized that Dave hadn't actually said anything since Mindy realized that the tattoos were all names. "Dave?" Mindy waved her hands in front of his face. Nothing.

"Dave!" Grabbing his shoulders, Mindy tried snapping, shaking him, slapping him, all the classic ways people try to make someone snap out of it. Out of desperation, she even grabbed his face and kissed him to no effect. But the fact was, she didn't even know what was wrong. Maybe Dave spaced out like this from time to time normally. But then again, maybe having Mindy right there bringing up all that guilt at once was just too much for him. "Dave, please…snap out of it…" She pleaded. The odd thing was that Dave's eyes were open, he was blinking, breathing normally, and for all intents and purposes, he appeared to be awake, he was just completely unresponsive.

As much as she was trying to remain in control, Mindy couldn't help it. She was starting to panic. She'd tried everything she could think of, and Dave was still staring with that same guilt ridden expression. Mindy let out a loud sigh as she slumped in his lap. "Dave…please don't do this to me… It's…It's not fair. I just got you back… I…can't…I don't think I can take… losing you again… not when you're right here! Snap the fuck out of it!..." Mindy growled, before sighing again, and trying to accept the forced silence.

"I…searched for you too, you know… You just turned out to be to not only be in another state, but across the fucking country…if I'd known where you were I probably would have…" Mindy knew what she wanted to say but she just…couldn't say it. All she could do was collapse, resting her head against Dave's chest. "God, sometimes I just wish we could be fucking normal…"

Mindy's eyes bulged when she realized that Dave's arms were wrapping around her. When she looked up, she saw that he was looking down at her. The guilt was still there, but it was laced with remorse as well, this time. "Sorry…" Dave muttered. "That…happens sometimes. I didn't mean to make you worry. Maybe I should have been the one getting the psychiatric treatment, huh?"

"You JERK!" Mindy gave Dave a hard punch to the ribs, though it was far from full force since her movement was slightly restrained from the embrace, which she wasn't going to break. "How much of that did you hear…?"

"All of it." Dave replied, with a smirk. "Did you kiss me?"

Mindy's eyes widened again, this time complimented by the increasing red tint in her cheeks. "Shut up! I was just…" Another punch finished her sentence. "Just don't do that again!"

"I'll do my best." Dave smiled, breaking the hug. "I really am sorry… This was…not exactly the reunion I was hoping for."

"Eh…shit happens." Was all Mindy replied, with as shrug, as she sat up. The two heroes remained silent for the moment. They both felt somewhat…exposed, and weren't too sure how to deal with it.

"…Are you just going to stay there?" Dave asked, still smirking, as he indicated that Mindy was still sitting astride him in his lap.

Mindy grinned coyly back. "Why? You have a problem with it?"

Dave raised an eyebrow. "That a trick question?"

"That depends on your answer…" Mindy replied, sticking out her tongue. "Actually, on second thought, I take that back. If you have a problem with it, you can suck it. You said you'd be my bitch for life, right?"

Dave rolled his eyes. "I never actually said that…but sure. Considering what I owe you…I'll be your bitch even after that…"

Mindy blanked for a moment. Despite the half joking nature of Dave's words there was enough genuine sincerity in his voice to catch her off guard. She found herself staring at him.

"…What…?" Dave asked, slightly unnerved at the attention.

"That means you'll do whatever I say, right?"

Dave smiled slightly. "If I can. Why? You want something?"

Mindy paused to think of whether she wanted to ask or not. Then she figured she'd already dipped her foot in the pool, why not jump in? "Well, I never got my birthday kiss, did I?"

"Birthday kiss?" Dave looked confused. "You already kissed me."

"Ugh! That didn't count. You were practically unconscious. You didn't even kiss me back." Mindy glared at Dave as she could see the internal debate going on in his head. "Well...? I'm waiting…bitch."

Dave chuckled to himself as he touched Mindy's cheeks and pulled her face to his to press their lips together.

Mindy blinked as the kiss was ended. She'd barely gotten a chance to kiss him back. "What the Hell was that?!"

"What? I gave you a birthday kiss, like you asked."

Mindy growled. "Oh for fuck's sake, Dave! You're so dense!" Grabbing Dave's head, she pulled him into another kiss, not letting him get away this time. She moaned loudly into the kiss, grabbing him by the hair. "Get it?" She breathed after finally letting him go.

Dave looked slightly winded from the sudden intensity of Mindy's kiss, as the look of comprehension crossed his face. "Ah…" He and Mindy shared another silent moment, only this time he was the one who broke it and pulled her back to him as their lips collided. The two of them moaned loudly into each others mouths as they kissed, their hands desperately pulling them closer to each other. All thought stopped, and everything just became instinct, until once more the kiss was broken. Dave held Mindy pressed against him, as she looked into his eyes, gasping. It took him a little while to grasp that while she was definitely aroused, that wasn't entirely the reason her breathing was so short. He was holding her extremely tight, and she literally couldn't breathe. "Oh! Sorry…"

Unclasping his arms from around her, Mindy took a deep inhale and chuckled as she caught her breath. "Heh, trust me, I don't mind." She replied, flashing him a grin. Passion was good, she could use passion. She was worrying that she was forcing Dave into something he didn't want to do. After that kiss and the…bulge she was feeling pressed against her, he was definitely interested, and that was all she needed to know, as she pounced on him again, moaning loudly into the kiss. This time, she added some gyrations to her waist, grinding against his crotch, making Dave moan louder as well. Pulling away, with a slow lick across Dave's lips, there was something in the way Mindy looked at him. An animalistic desperation that made her tugging at his pants seem even more eager. Of course, with all the various belts, they didn't budge, which got Dave another glare from her. "Off! Now!"

Dave immediately undid just enough so that he could pull his pants down and the moment they were down enough that his cock was free, Mindy's hands were on it, causing him to stop before he barely got to his knees. Dave threw his head back at the sudden sensation of Mindy's hands stroking his dick. When he looked at her, she was grinning almost maniacally, and before he could so much as say, 'No foreplay?', Mindy had raised her hips, moved her panties to the side, and slammed him into her pussy.

"Oh FUCK!" Was all Dave was able to get out, before Mindy frantically bounced up and down on him. It was all he could do to hold on to her waist as the force of her body shook his. Mindy moaned and gasped, lost in a frenzied lust as she bucked her hips against his. She then felt his body trembling, which quickly turned into an all out shudder, as she felt him cumming inside of her.

Immediately Mindy let out a frustrated yell. "Dave, what the FUCK?!"

Dave was still shaking in the aftermath of his orgasm, as he tried to catch his breath. "It wasn't like you gave me-…You just-…Just give me a couple minutes, okay? …Shit…"

Mindy kept trying to glare at Dave, but the fact of the matter was…his reaction to…well…everything was kind of funny, and she couldn't stop herself from laughing. "Fine…I'll give you five."

"Five?" Dave raised an eyebrow. "How about ten?"

Mindy crossed her arms, and gave Dave a skeptical look. "Ten minutes? Fuck you, I could get myself off twice…three times by then... I'll give you six."

This time Dave glared. "Eight."

The two vigilantes stared each other down, before a definitive smirk made itself known on their features, as they said in unison, "Seven." They shook on it, as Mindy raised her legs to dismount Dave, reveling in the subtle disappointed look as she got off of him.

"What? You wanted seven minutes and I'm giving them to you." Mindy taunted, walking away. Not that she walked very far. Once she was in the middle of the room, she stopped, reached behind her back and started untying her top. She was so…eager before, she hadn't even realized she was more or less, fully clothed. As she pulled off what remained of her top, Mindy passed a glance at Dave, and saw that he was staring at her. In fact he was staring at her quite intently. It took everything in her to hide her smirk at the attention. Well, while it wasn't exactly her initial intention, if Dave wanted a show, she'd give him one. It would only help, right?

Not that she'd try to dance or anything, Mindy would just…get undressed a bit slower than necessary. Currently she was reaching behind her back again, slowly undoing her bra, one clip at a time. Once that was done, Mindy bent forward, letting gravity take the bra the rest of the way down her arms and onto the floor. From this position, Mindy's shoulder length, brown hair completely covered her face, and she could look up between the strands at Dave, who was still staring, and from all intentions was definitely beginning to 'enjoy' the show. Her face was covered, so Mindy didn't need to hide her grin now.

Straightening herself up, Mindy let Dave get a good look at her, now exposed, breasts, which didn't seem to be confusing him as much as they did when he initially saw them. Next, Mindy rotated her hips so that she could slowly unzip her skirt. Just as she'd done with her bra, she just let go and it slid down her toned legs. Her panties would obviously need a little more coaxing. With that in mind, Mindy played with the sides of them a little before she gradually pulled them down, showing off her flexibility a little with the way she bent this time. Now all that was left were her boots. Walking back up to Dave, Mindy put up one of her legs to the side of him, and slowly unzipped her left boot, making an effort to pay more attention to her boot than to Dave. After pulling that off, she did the same with her right boot, taking just as much time. To be honest, this might have taken longer than seven minutes, but Mindy was having fun so she didn't care, it would only benefit her in the long run after all.

Once Mindy was completely naked, she impatiently crossed her arms, giving Dave a look as she cleared her throat. That snapped him out of it enough to remember that Mindy was nude, but he wasn't. Not taking anywhere remotely as much time, Dave quickly kicked off his boots, and took his pants the rest of the way down. There was no doubt from the way he was looking at Mindy that he was ready to go. He looked like if she were still wearing anything he'd have torn it off of her. "I was kind of hoping you'd have kept on the boots."

Mindy's eyes bulged, as she glared at him. "Then why the fuck didn't you say anything?"

"Well…I was…" Dave's eyes trailed down Mindy's legs. "Distracted…"

Mindy grinned, moving her hair out of her face. She kind of liked the way he was looking at her. It was very…primal…his musculature only helped with the effect, he looked ready to pounce. She had a feeling Dave was going to just snap, and take her on the floor any second now. And that just wouldn't do…well…maybe it would later…

Turning around, Mindy made her way to the bedroom, looking back at Dave to make sure he was following before getting to the bed. From there, she merely crawled, giving Dave a good look at her ass, before she felt the weight of Dave crawling on the bed after her. She could practically feel the bed trembling with his anticipation, his ragged breathing becoming more like a growl. Mindy smiled widely as she could practically hear the snap as he jumped on her.

Mindy let out a loud cry as Dave grabbed her and forced his cock inside of her. At first she could only push against the head of the bed and try to keep her ass up from the sheer force he was thrusting into her with. Just like before there were no words, only this time Dave was the one pounding into her like an animal. Dave wasn't just fucking her pussy, Mindy could feel the force he was using radiate through her entire body, making her moans nothing but gasps and squeaks. But she desperately needed to tell him something. Mindy could barely think coherently, and if it weren't for her arms pushing her back, Dave probably would have had her head banging against the wall the bed was against, but it was vital she get this across before he went any further.

"HAR-AR-AR-DER-ER-ERRRR!"

Mindy got her wish, and she was barely able to hold on after it was granted. With each thrust, she could feel her whole body shaking, just to get shaken again. If she'd wanted him to fuck her harder, or if he were even capable of it, they would never know, as neither of them could make anything that even sounded slightly like human speech. Mindy felt herself trembling as her body build up to an orgasm that went through the very core of her being. Dave's borderline assault on Mindy's pussy didn't slow just because she was cumming, he kept his same, hectic, frantic pace. She didn't know whether that made her cum again, or whether it just a continuation of the same orgasm or what, but her body was practically vibrating with pleasure and she was pretty sure the sounds coming out of her mouth weren't human.

She wasn't sure how many times she came before Dave's breathing and pace became more erratic and she felt his cock throbbing and cumming inside of her again, this time with no complaints. In fact the force of his orgasm, ended up sending her into another of her own as the two shook in ecstasy, and collapsed next to each other desperately trying to get oxygen back into their lungs like they'd been holding their breath for an hour. Neither of them seemed even capable of speaking for a good ten minutes.

"I…think…you…fucked…my stomach…into my lungs…" Mindy gasped between breaths, looking over to Dave, her body practically useless at this point.

Dave could only let out an exhausted laugh in reply. He then flashed Mindy a smile. A very tired, but genuine, infectious smile that she had no choice but to return. And then he had to go and fuck it up. Mindy probably wouldn't have noticed, if she wasn't looking at him at that exact moment, but surely enough, the very moment he gave that smile, his eyes went down to the 'weights' on his arms and his expression fell to a pale shadow of the guilt that he'd had earlier. It was still enough to piss Mindy off though. What pissed her off more than anything was that Dave hadn't consciously done it. It was a reflex reaction. He smiled, and immediately 'punished' himself for it. It was instinctive. A force of anger Mindy hadn't felt in a long time went through her.

"Nuh-uh! No! That is not fucking happening!" She growled ferociously, forcing herself up.

At first, Dave didn't get what was making her so angry, but he soon realized what it was. "I…anytime I-"

"Don't care. Don't want to hear it." Mindy interrupted. "We're both fucked in the head. I get that. I accept that. But no, I fucking _need_ this, and so do you, so we are going to FUCKING ENJOY THIS! You're fucking me again!"

"Uh…" Dave said, chuckling a little. "I'm not sure that's physically possible."

"Thunk! Tsssss! You know what that sound was? That was me branding 'Mindy's bitch for life' on your fucking forehead. Take as much time as you want, but you are going to fuck me again and this time I want you to look at me, and me only. You look at your arms and we start over until you get it right or one of us passes out and if that happens you better hope its me!" Mindy threatened. "Where are you going to look?"

Dave smiled warming back. "Only you..."

"Damn right! You're going to look at me, you're going to fuck me, and after we're done, you're going to keep looking at me, you're going to hold me like a motherfucking princess, and we're going to go to sleep like NORMAL FUCKING PEOPLE! FOR ONE FUCKING NIGHT! AM I CLEAR?!"

Dave laughed again. "Crystal. I'll try."

Mindy grabbed Dave's face and pulled it to hers. "Do. Or do not. There is no try."

Dave's eyes bulged slightly. "…is it bad that I'm kind of half mast right now?"

Mindy looked down and then looked back up, trying to fight her urge to grin. "No, it just means that under all that you're still a fucking dork."

"You don't sound like you're complaining." Dave said, unable to completely hold back his laughter.

"If you weren't a dork you wouldn't be you…" Mindy replied, using the closeness to bring Dave into another kiss. This kiss wasn't nearly as frantic or brief as the others. They simply allowed themselves to enjoy it. The feel of their naked skin rubbing against the other's, the sounds of their breaths moaning when their lips parted, the consistent eye contact only made everything more…intimate. They weren't sure how long they were kissing, but eventually Dave positioned himself over Mindy and eased himself into her again. They were both still exhausted, which forced him into a much slower pace, not that either of them minded. In fact, going slow was…nice… Just as the eye contact added an intimacy to the kissing, it did that and more now. Mindy moaned as she could literally feel Dave throbbing inside of her, and moved with him, wrapping her legs around Dave's waist.

"Oh God…" Mindy breathed, feeling a familiar sensation once more, building inside of her. Despite Dave's apparently tiredness, his tempo started picking up as he got closer. Their eagerness to cum together culminated as they kissed, embracing the passion of the moment as they cried out together. Despite her trembling, and the heaviness of her eyes, Mindy forced herself to remain aware enough to make sure Dave's eyes remained on her. He gave her a sly smile, but he did as she said, his eyes never left her as he wrapped his arm over into an embrace.

"Mindy-"

Mindy immediately covered Dave's mouth with her hand. "Dave…I swear…the next and last thing out of your mouth better be 'Good Night' or 'Happy Birthday, Mindy', nothing else."

Dave grinned as his mouth was freed and said, "Happy Birthday, Mindy. Good night."

"Smart ass…" Mindy grumbled, as she fell asleep.

_(A/N: And there you have it. This chapter put me in the mind of those pistachio commercials where it's all "Psy opens them Gangnam style", only this was "This is how the crazies fuck." The funny thing is the…er…third round, I guess…the tender one, was probably going to be the entire shebang in the original 1 chapter length story, but as it grew…this is just, how Dave and Mindy wanted to fuck. *shrugs* I'll probably give them a more conventional sex scene eventually…or it'll get more intense…depends on how it writes itself.)_


	5. Er, Now What?

_(A/N:Yeah, I know, this chapter took frickin ages for me to get out. Honestly I just haven't had as much time to write lately. All I can say is that I will continue to try to get these chapters out as fast as I can. *shrug* As for this chapter, it was pretty fun to do, not nearly as angsty as most of the story will probably end up being. Figured Dave and Mindy just had awesome sex, they should have some nice, carefree interaction time. Hope you enjoy. Leave a review either way.)_

Mindy awoke with a stretch and was immediately on edge as she realized someone else was in her safehouse. But as soon as she saw Dave doing push ups on the floor, another sensation came over her entirely, as a smile slowly formed on her face.

"Morning…" Dave said, holding himself up, before starting on the push ups again.

"You been up long?" Mindy found herself watching him very intently. He had his pants back on, but he was still topless, making that exercise in particular, very 'fun' to watch. Mindy couldn't help but to think that she wouldn't mind waking up to this every morning, at all. In fact, she was unconsciously licking her lips as she imagined herself under him while he did a very similar exercise.

"What?" Dave asked, noticing the gaze.

"Nothing…" Mindy said, her voice a little dreamy. "Just enjoying the show."

"You've seen me work out before."

"Mmm…" Mindy moaned, "I think you're…underestimating what lack of sex has done to me."

Dave paused in his push ups again as he easily got what Mindy was implying. "Mindy…" He started with a smirk. "You do know if we start this up again…we're pretty much going to be fucking and sleeping the whole day."

Mindy moaned again, leaning forwards, beginning to crawl towards the edge of the bed in Dave's direction. "You say that like it's a bad thing. I could think of worse ways to spend a day." Mindy's smile suddenly got wider. "Think of it as more exercise."

"Mindy…" Dave protested, with a smile, seeing Mindy's pose, as if she were about to pounce.

"What? Exercise is healthy." She purred. "Why? You had other plans today?"

"Well…" Dave got a little thoughtful, before giving up on the push ups and sitting up. "…my plane back home's going to be leaving in a couple of hours…"

"Your…" And then it all hit Mindy like an actual blow. She'd just assumed that everything would go back to the way that it had been between them…just with different aliases…and sex. Lots and lots of exhausting, sweaty, amazing, she's getting wet just thinking about it, sex. But Dave was never actually hers. He had his own life, in his own state. Hell, he might have his own girlfriend. He might be married. Mindy made a face at that thought, as she glanced at the tattoos on his arms. No way he was married, being as fucked up as he was…but he could have an oblivious girlfriend…possibly. Not that Mindy wanted to be his girlfriend, with all the issues they had between them, it was probably safest if they're relationship wasn't defined…and involved lots of sex.

She immediately felt…possessive. Sure the Dave being her bitch thing was kind of a joke but she didn't want to things to just end between them. Even if they could talk on the phone or something that wouldn't be enough. Mindy knew she was being selfish, but after all this time of mostly being by herself, having someone who truly understood her-

Mindy paused all thoughts as she saw the expression on Dave's face. While hers had probably reflected a plethora of emotions, Dave's was merely one of…subtle amusement. Mindy's eyes grew wide as she realized what had just happened. "YOU DICK!" Mindy roared as she chucked the nearest thing she could reach at Dave's face. Luckily it was a pillow and not the knife she always keeps under it. "THAT WASN'T FUNNY!"

Dave smirked a bit as the pillow bounced off of his face. "Oh come on, it was kind of funny. A little mean, I'll admit, but still kind of funny. I didn't know you cared."

"Ugh!" Mindy groaned. She found she loved the way Dave looked at her when she was naked, but she didn't like being exposed to him at emotional levels that deeply. It made her feel…well…like a girl. She didn't spend all this time building her image just to turn into some lovesick puppy when her old friend came back. Not that she was in love or anything. "When are you supposed to be going back?" She grumbled.

Dave raised an eyebrow. "In a couple of hours. I wasn't kidding about that." His grin returned. "I'm just not going to be on the plane. You didn't think I searched for you all these years just to find you and leave, did you?"

"Find me, fuck me, and leave technically." Mindy shot back, a smile forming on her lips as well. She found it very difficult to keep that smile as subdued as it was when she heard not only that Dave wasn't planning on leaving, but the conviction in his voice as he said it. "And technically you only looked for me for a couple of weeks. Not even a month, really."

"Well it wasn't like the fucking thing was planned and for all I knew you were d-…oh stop being such a bitch." Dave grumbled.

Mindy smiled wider. "You started it, bitch." But her smile faltered slightly when she saw that Dave's face was starting to get that guilty expression again. She figured it would be best to quickly change the subject. "So…you're staying for me, huh?" Resuming her crawling once more, Mindy made her way off the bed and started moving towards Dave again.

Dave's expression turned back to a smirk when he saw Mindy prowling again. "Mindy, I was serious about us doing something."

"I _do_ want to do something." Mindy purred as she reached her destination. Dave might have been protesting but his eyes were trailing all over her body as she crawled to him.

"You said you wanted to be normal. Twice." Dave said, trying to keep his composure as Mindy's face got closer to his.

"Mmm, this _is_ normal." Mindy tugged on Dave's earlobe with her teeth, noticing the little shiver that went over him.

"I wanted to go out. I can fuck you senseless when we get back." Dave said, chuckling.

"Or…you could fuck me senseless now…we could get some sleep…go out…kick some ass…come back…fuck some more…and get some more sleep." Mindy's lips moved down to Dave's neck.

Dave turned to caress Mindy's cheek. "That wasn't what I meant by go out. We went out of our ways to get these identities. We should use them. We should go out."

Mindy's head jerked back in surprise. "Dave? Are you asking me out on a date?"

Dave's eyes bulged, and the color rose to his cheeks despite his darker skin tone. "Well…no, not technically…I just thought…since you've pretty much just been Hit Girl full time, you might enjoy just…hanging out."

Mindy smiled at Dave's reaction. "You're…not exactly in the best outfit to be going out in the daytime." Her fingers trailed down Dave's bare chest. "Not that I mind it…" It was funny that she initially didn't like all the changes he'd made to himself, but she was beginning to be quite fond of them.

Dave smirked back at Mindy, looking down her hand, which seemed to be currently exploring his abs. "Well, I figured I could just make my way to the hotel using those old subway tunnels around here." Dave pointed to the map on the far wall.

Mindy turned back and sighed as she saw the map he was pointing at. "Oh…saw that, huh?"

"Not like it was exactly hidden." Dave laughed.

Mindy rolled her eyes. "Well, normally I'm the only one here, so I rarely have to hide anything." She then sighed again. "We really aren't going to have sex again, are we?"

Dave couldn't hide his laughter again. "You're a horny little thing, aren't you?"

Mindy grinned and forcefully pulled Dave into a kiss. "You're really reeeeeeeally underestimating that lack of sex thing. If those pants weren't so fucking hard to take off, I'd have had my way with you already."

Dave kissed her back before standing up. "There will be plenty of time for that later. Now get dressed…its distracting."

Mindy flashed her best Cheshire Cat grin, purposely stretching so Dave could see more of her, and as she was still naked, there wasn't much more left to see. "Why? What's so distracting?"

Dave chose not to look and walked over to the map. "Tell you what, I'll race you to my hotel. I take the tunnels, and you get dressed and see if you can find it, topside."

Mindy turned and made a face. "That's…not exactly fair. I don't know where the fuck your hotel is."

Dave grinned back and pointed at a spot on the map. "Its here. I have to give myself some kind of handicap, don't I? If going through those tunnels is anything like getting here, its going to be a pain in the ass for me."

Mindy couldn't help but to giggle when she thought of how hard it was for him to get through those small spaces. And as she looked at the area, there weren't too many hotels over there. And if Dave was so keen in going in the daytime, it was obviously a secluded area, where he could sneak in and out if he needed to. "Room number?"

"Damn!" Dave grumbled. "Was hoping you wouldn't think to ask that. 103."

"You're on, bitch. What do I get when I win?" Another question suddenly crossed Mindy's mind. "Where are we even going?"

Dave shrugged. "I don't know. It'll be a moot point, since I'm gonna win. But I guess…winner gets one free request that can't be turned down. As for where we're going…eh, somewhere...we'll figure it out later. I get the feeling you need to get out more, and coming from me, that's saying something."

Mindy stuck out her tongue. "Heh, I might have been told that before. Fine, I'll go get dressed." She turned back flashing Dave a smile. "And that newfound confidence of yours is pretty cute. I'm going to enjoy crushing it with my stupidly high heeled boots."

"Uh…Mindy?" Dave asked, suddenly remembering how 'Jessica' dressed. "Uh…do you have anything with pants?"

Mindy stopped on her way to the bedroom, and gave Dave a look. "Yeah, I do have jeans, you ass."

Dave got thoughtful as a smirk crossed his face. "Wait…those are, like…those, stupidly tight, they look like they've been painted onto you jeans aren't they?"

Mindy poked her head out of the room and stuck her tongue out at Dave again. "Those are the ones."

Dave raised an eyebrow. "Mind if I watch you put them on? I've always been curious how you girls get into those things."

"You can if you want. Won't be remotely as sexy and you're picturing in your head."

"Mmm, I can be the judge of that. I'd guess there's a lot of jumping and bouncing involved."

"Oh fuck you, Dave…why are you looking in my closet?"

"Oh you know…just curious if you have anything that actually fits you anymore

"Kiss. My. Ass. I told you, its all part of the disguise."

"Uh huh, oo shiny pants."

"Those are latex. You think the jeans are hard to get on, those things are almost not worth it. They do make my ass look amazing though."

"…do they?"

"…GOD DAMMIT, DAVE!"

"What? I didn't say anything."

"So that wasn't a look of 'I have to see you wearing those pants all day, and I'm going to fuck the Hell out of you when you get back.' that you just showed me?"

"…no, that's pretty on the money."

"Oh fine. But you want me in them, you have to help lube up my thighs."

"…Mindy…I don't think that came out half as threatening as you meant it to."

_(A/N: And the "Damaged" Universe is officially introduced. As I said initially, this was going to be the end of the story, but just the who wins the race thing alone, just made it not seem like the end of a story, but the end of a chapter to me. However after this chapter, I will start doing flashbacks so you get more information onto the character's pasts. Probably more on Mindy's side than Dave's, but this story is more from Mindy's perspective anyway so that's part of the reason. _

_However there's a couple of ways I can do the flashbacks, which will become very important later. What I'll probably start with is having the chapter start with a flashback and then go into the present, most likely with the past in italics and the present normal, and the author's note in bold. I could also just dedicate a chapter to flashbacks and label them as such, but I think that would be more confusing than putting the past and the present into the same chapter. If mixing the two just doesn't work in the same story, I suppose I could do a Damaged story in the present and a Damaged story in the past, but eh…then it'll take even longer to get out because I'll be doing another story. But yeah, let me know what you think works and what you think doesn't.)_


End file.
